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hotvintagepoll · 28 days

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Propaganda

Miriam Hopkins (Design For Living, Trouble in Paradise)—miriam hopkins had great range as an actresses, truly a woman who could play a passionate outburst for either dramatic or comedic effect and sell the ever-loving hell out of it. she's wonderful in the witty and sophisticated comedies she made with ernst lubitsch, great examples of movies that could never have been made after the hays code; the frothy musical comedy the smiling lieutenant where she plays a naive princess who accidentally gets betrothed to maurice chevalier, the polyamory classic design for living where she gary cooper and hot vintage shadow king fredric march are a throuple, and the ineffably exquisite comedic masterpiece trouble in paradise in which she and hubert marshall are sexy jewel thieves trying to con sexy rich lady kay francis, but will emotional complications ensue???? watch to find out!!

Joan Fontaine (Rebecca, Suspicion, Ivanhoe)— Check out the screen tests of other actresses for Rebecca to fully grasp how subtly and effectively she plays the role. Competence porn! Good acting before the method!

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Miriam Hopkins:

She is an incredibly charismatic and versatile actress who brings a certain captivating je ne sais quois to each and every one of her roles that makes her impossible to ignore. Her pre-code films were considered quite risqué, with her part in a thrupple in Design For Living, and some saucy scenes they had to cut from Jekyll and Hyde. She also had a strong career in early television, so good that this queen literally has TWO Hollywood Stars, TWO!! One for TV and one for Film

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Also she is Gorgeous, capable of being the girl nextdoor and also a stunning blonde bombshell. She's not as well known as some golden-age Hollywood stars but she's really incredible and I recommend everyone watch her films

In Trouble in Paradise she plays a pickpocket who flirts by stealing from her criminal boyfriend and I fell in love

queen of the pre-code era. often her roles were of carefree, flirty and lighthearted but intelligent women. famously in the movie where she was part of a fredrich march/gary cooper throuple.

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Linked gifset

She's got this sly slouchy confidence that just draws you in. Almost no one wore 30s fashion as well as her

We all know that Design for Living is THE pre-code movie and she is so iconic in it. Her eyes are everythingggg. Also everyone look at her in a suit in She Loves Me Not please

A Frequent collaborator of Ernst Lubistch, Miriam Hopkins like up the screen in her comic roles, as is especially sexy in her pre-code performance in Design for Living; probably one of the first movies to showcase a coded polyamorous relationship. She toes the line between adorable and sexy, and had the acting chops to back it all up.

Joan Fontaine:

ABSOLUTELY too hot to have played Jane Eyre like what were they thinking.

#joan fontaine #miriam hopkins #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 2 #Youtube

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bloodied-serpent · 10 months

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i hope you know you are driving me & my friends up the walls (in the best way) with your comments on our gifsets about emhyr and cahir. you get them, truly.

tell me more pls 👀

Thank you, I'm so happy to torture you with my tags.

I do want to give major credit to both actors, because the physicality in their scenes is *phenomenal* visual storytelling. The delivery of their lines, from their body language to the tone of voice and the microexpressions, has so much nuance that it creates a really compelling dynamic between the two of them. In every interaction between the two of them, there is purpose behind everything, and it elevates the scenes.

In terms of the characters themselves, vengeance is an ouroboros, and I think this shows in how both of them navigate the world.

What fascinates me about Emhyr is how he weaves the illusion of the White Flame- this untouchable leader who is not only certain in his plan, not just guaranteed to succeed, but he acts like he's already won. His posturing is so cleverly constructed to manipulate the person(s) in front of him. We see this in how he interacts with the dwarf bladesmith, sharing drinks but reminding her of the fact they are not, can not, and will not *ever* be the same. The dwarf says as much, blatantly stating he'd kill her if the sword was faulty. And he doesn't shy away from the admission. He leans into it, cultivates that quiet fear that makes people obey. We never see Emhyr without a signifier of his position. He welcomes Cahir back in armour, as the army leader. He wakes Cahir in elaborate dress, as the emperor. Emhyr is always performing, even when he is alone, and that is his tragedy. He only ever dares hesitate when he is alone, but even as he burns the remnants of his old life, he is not allowed to be himself. He is not permitted to be Emhyr. Emhyr is the ashes of a portrait he threw in that brazier. He is the White Flame, because *that* is who will get him what he wants.

And the show emphasises how everything around Emhyr is cyclical. He condemned Fringilla to unending wine, letting her poison herself just as she poisoned his trust. He drinks with his weapon crafter, in moderation and in good spirits. He banished Cahir to the border, where he had to fight tooth and nail for his life, because he sought to cut Emhyr away from his goal. He asks Cahir to kill the only friend he has, knowing Cahir forgets the word "no" around him.

Cahir, on the other hand, is grappling with his sense of self. The only constant in his life is his king, and his king has no mercy for Cahir. Cahir cannot see choice past yearning for Emhyr, because all he has known is loyalty to him. And this hesitation, this doubt, it's apparent. And Emhyr does not hesitate to exploit it. He understands, I feel, on a fundamental level, that Emhyr understands the fact Cahir treads a fine line between his loss of self and finding one that doesn't need a king. Everything Emhyr does, from rousing Emhyr and using the advantage of his still-hazy mind to feed him crumbs enough to satisfy the ache in his heart before he asks the impossible. Something Cahir is more than willing to do, because it's for Emhyr. And this is validated- brilliantly portrayed- by how Emhyr uses language to alienate Cahir from the Others, effectively telling him things like "do it for us" because he KNOWS how desperate Cahir is for there to be an "us"

And I don't necessarily mean a romantic or sexual us here, it's more that Cahir at his core has a need to belong. So what does Emhyr do? "I wanted to welcome you back myself." Entering his room, throwing him his trousers and sitting with him, shoulder to shoulder, looking him in the eye, and telling him what he wants to hear, all the while affirming his standing as the arbiter of life itself. "Fringilla is dead. You are here," he says, meaning "You are here because I have permitted you to be."

Cahir shatters the mirror, whereas Emhyr burns the portrait. One has potential for introspection. The other is a cut link. We see how killing the elf affects Cahir, how he crumbles inward from the act. There is no one to catch him, and he doesn't recognise who he sees in the mirror, but he's not able to let go. And who would? When you have that security, that fragile peace where all you need to do is obey and you'll be rewarded, why step out of line? He tried it, and it almost got him killed. That is what makes this riveting. Cahir is painfully aware of the danger his doubt brings. And he still voices it anyway, sat side by side with the White Flame, he asks "How do you know when someone's a good leader" but he means "How do I know you're what's best for me?" And Emhyr deflects, using Cahir's need against him to placate him.

Emhyr communicates his inner world beautifully - he lays out expectations rather directly, like when he told Cahir "You did as I asked without hesitation." Hesitation is crucial to Emhyr's character, because it is his weak spot. He clutches the portrait of baby Ciri in his arms as he walks away, carrying only his agenda into the future. He buries anything that will not further his obsession, letting it suffocate and rot, instead of killing it outright, because he fears its ghost too much.

Cahir's woe is intelligence, in that he is aware of it all. He's aware of his need, of his desperation, but he's too afraid to break the cycle. The gravitational pull of Emhyr's influence keeps him in this unending loop of doubt and breakdowns and having his faith affirmed, and he's not allowed to change, because if he regains his sense of self, he will no longer be a malleable asset. Cahir can't seem to fix himself up, which shows in how he has looked throughout the season. Hair and clothes unkempt and rough, the most he managed was washing his face. Compare that with the jewellery and velvet Emhyr wore to wake him, and you get two very different worlds that mirror each other. Emhyr is scared to be himself, Cahir is scared of not being who Emhyr wants him to be.

#thank you for giving me a chance to infodump on them #I've hyperfixated so so badly #the witcher #emhyr #cahir

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 4 months

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Tumblr Fandom: A Year in Review 2023

Tagged by @mistmarauder and I'm pretty sure I'm contractually obligated to do as she says so...

Top Five Blorbos: Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley, Patrick Jane, Edgin Darvis, Xenk Yendar

Top Five Fandoms: 9-1-1, Fast & Furious, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Mentalist, The Witcher

Top Five OTPs: Buddie, Xedgin, whatever the hell Dom/Brian is called (there is so little fanfic for them I am weeping), Jisbon, House/Shenanigans uh I mean House/Wilson/Cuddy

Shoutout to Some New Friends: @princessfbi and @tulipfromtheinternet have been very kind to me, leaving treats out on their porches for me to sniff. I even let them pet me after a few months of slowly earning my trust!

Shoutout to Some Old Friends: @mistmarauder and @catdadeddie are two friends I grew closer with this year, and have done a lot to restore my trust in people. They've put up with an unfair amount of prickliness and distrust on my part with grace and love. @evcndiaz has also put up with me dropping into her inbox with fun (horrifying) facts about human anatomy, which earns her a gold medal. And of course @givemeunicorns @devilsbrokerank @captainofthefallen and @extasiswings continue to be my rocks and remind me that there are good people in this world, and that some of those good people might actually love me.

Favorite Creation You Posted This Year: Genuinely I feel like with my Halloween fics I have done the best work in my fanfiction career. I'm shocked at how proud I am of the fanfics I put out this year, including my Wednesday fic and my Xedgin fics. It's impossible for me to choose a favorite.

Favorite Creation Posted by Someone Else This Year: @kittykatthetacodemon had me reading fic for fandoms and ships I'm not even in or shipping? she's just that fucking good? holy shit go watch Mag7 and then read her fics just. just do it.

People Who Brightened Your Year: @lisbonsteresa always and forever brightens my days, and it was a delight this year to be in the same fandom again as she got me hooked on The Mentalist, @mistmarauder always makes me laugh even (especially) when she's roasting me, and @extasiswings helped me get away from the real world a couple times when I needed it.

Anyone Else You'd Like to Mention: I'm so grateful to all of my readers, always. Your enthusiasm and comments are what keep me going. Thank you thank you thank you.

Five of Your Favorite Authors This Year: I'll be honest I have barely read any fanfic this year since I simply haven't had time but a quick shout out again to @kittykatthetacodemon because Mist forced me to read her fanfics at gunpoint and I've never been so happy to be at gunpoint after reading them. I've reread her Hobbs & Shaw fics literally a dozen times, she nails the hysterical over-the-top banter from the F&F films and it has me giggling every time.

Oh and @henswilsons. Forever and always making me laugh with your delightful fics. Never stop, dear.

Five of Your Favorite Artists/Gifmakers/Podficcers/Etc. This Year: @captain-hen so many times I see a gifset that makes me insane and it's by you, you menace. @like-the-rest-of-la lovely art from a lovely person. @bucksketch you make art that has me screeching and twirling my hair and kicking my feet. @mistmarauder your podfics, babe, you know how much I adore them. Um I'm terrible at remembering urls (I'm even worse with names). Uh. Um. Uhhhh. Uhhhhhhh... *we're all still waiting days later*

Three Things You're Looking Forward to in 2024: 9-1-1 SEASON SEVEN BABEEEEEEY

#tagging thing #about mads

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antimony-medusa · 8 months

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HELLO QSMP FANS

I am come to you with my hat in my hand to tell you about a Fun New Event *jazz hands* that's running this fall that I am trying to lure people into. Ahem.

So Fic In A Box is one of the major multifandom fanfiction exchanges, so it runs on the People Submit Tags To A Tag Set > Everybody Signs Up With Ships From The Tag Set They Want To Write And Want To Receive > Assignments Go Out > Work For Two Months > Reveals Once Everybody Gets A Gift. However, it has some interesting fun quirks which make it really fun and which is why I'm trying to lure QSMP people into it so I can match on QSMP plz plz plz.

First thing: It's a 10k exchange. You get two months to write it, but everybody makes or receives (unless you have to drop) a 10k gift or equivilent. Don't you want a 10k gift? Come onnnnnnn do ittttt.

Wait, Equivalent?

Yes, this is point two. One of the things Fic In A Box is famous for is that you can opt into a whole bunch of rulesets, and they break everything down to 1k-equivilent increments, and so you can get 7k of fic, and 2k's worth of propoganda posters, and 1k worth of podfic, for example. 4k of birth chart analysis of your fave characters, 6k of in-world cost analysis spreadsheets. 2k fic, 8k worldbuilding headcanons. This ruleset is CRAZY in terms of the sort of stuff you can opt into, I encourage you to take a look at the tag set, it's everything from dress-up game to art remixes of your existing fic to in-world reddit articles to interactive fiction to poetry to gifsets to costume design. I'm personally looking at in-world RPF and in-world social media for QSMP and chortling madly as I imagine.

So wait, you might get one 10k gift or you might get several smaller gifts?

Yes, point 3. The other thing Fic In A Box does that they're famous for is swaps, which is where you look at all the sign ups in a handy app, and you go shopping among them, and then you go to the mods and say "I want to do 4k on my original assignement, and 2k of usernamealpha, and 3k of usernamebeta, and 1k of usernamthree" and they say "i'll see what I can do", and then the mods run everybody's requests through the single most complicated spreadsheet in the world to make everybody's requests balance out to 10k, and then you get little micro assignments to work on over the two months.

This means both that if a 10k fic seems daunting, you can write a couple smaller gifts and work up to it that way, and also, though this isn't like something to plan for, if life gets bad you can do partial defaults and just turn in your 4k, you're not *necessarily* on the hook for 10k.

So now you're seeing why I want to recruit more QSMP people, eh? Currently I'm only matchable with one person. Please sign up. I want to do swaps. I want to set myself four impossible assignments. JOIN MEEEEE. Sign ups are open through September 3rd! Message me for more information and I will happily infodump and explain at you!

(more about the tag set and thus the stuff you can request/offer under the cut, cause it gets long)

There are like over a thousand individual fandoms in the tag set to choose from for your sign-up, and in addition to SMPEarth, DSMP, 3rd Life, Hermitcraft, Empires, and Outsiders SMP being in the tag set, this is the list of QSMP tags. It has a good assortment of options! I was nominating and I was trying to hit the high points!

BadBoyHalo/ForeverPlayer (QSMP)

Cellbit & JaidenAnimations & Roier (QSMP)

Cellbit/Roier (QSMP)

Chayanne & MissaSinfonia & Philza (QSMP)

Chayanne & Philza & Tallulah (QSMP)

ElMariana & Juanfillipa & Slimecicle (QSMP)

ElMariana/Slimecicle (QSMP)

Etoiles/Philza (QSMP)

FitMC/Philza (QSMP)

ForeverPlayer/MissaSinfonia/Philza (QSMP)

ForeverPlayer/Philza (QSMP)

Luzugames/Quackity (QSMP)

Luzugames/Quackity/Wilbur Soot (QSMP)

MissaSinfonia & Philza (QSMP)

MissaSinfonia/Philza (QSMP)

Quackity & Tilin & Tallulah & Wilbur Soot (QSMP)

Quackity/Wilbur Soot (QSMP)

WB: Any (QSMP | Quackity SMP)

WB: Egg Revivals (QSMP)

WB: Egg/Code Connection (QSMP)

WB: Federation Kidnappings & Cryosleep (QSMP)

(NOTE: WB tags are all Worldbuilding tags, and they mean that you want a fic or a gift that focuses a concept more than a relationship)

So there is a BOLD assortment of tags to pick among, SURELY on that list you can find at least one. Technically to sign up you only need one relationship! They ask for three fandoms or they won't hold the exchange for you if you need to be pinch-hit (if your original gifter needs to drop), but if you're willing to take that risk, you can fully and legally sign up with an only-spiderbit or only-tntduo signup!

So! Shoot me a message or reply if you have questions! Join me! Fic in a Box!

#qsmp #qsmpblr #mcyt #mcytblr #exchanges

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olderthannetfic · 9 months

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Tumblr seems to be sliding in a downward spiral, and it feels like the start of the end of a fandoming era for me. I've been through it before; platforms are born then die, and life fandom finds a way. I'm just not looking forward to floundering for a bit, and dreading what the next hub will look like.

AO3 isn't really a place geared or meant for the same thing, and that's fine. My only fandom-related activity took place on AO3 only for a few years between my leaving LJ and joining Tumblr, and I lived ;-) But during that time, I was my own little island in fandom. Reading, leaving a few comments, not being super active. It's only when I found a community again that I was back to being really active in fandom once more.

And it's not that I actually use Tumblr to post about myself, but I do use it to read and reblog cool things - art, gifsets, science stuff, discovering new fandoms, and the like. I'm not sure where else I could find my people, with sameish purposes. The other sites I've tried didn't fill that niche in a way that suited me, in part because of how they look and work, in part because of who and what is(n't) there.

I have DW & PF accounts just to be safe, but I'm not very fond of group chats Discord-style - and without Tumblr, IDK how I'd even hear of new communities where I might pop in once in a while, loins girdled and everything. The micro-blogging platforms are not what I'm looking for either. Sure, I can follow a few DW comms and blogs; I already occasionally do and I will be more consistent about it if I must.

But one of my greatest fear is that the next platform will be phone-based, app-only, or some such BS - and that is something I just won't be able to deal with. Phones are tiny, it's uncomfortable to write anything, I don't like touch screen and much, much prefer a proper keyboard and a mouse (copy-pasting on a screen? (x_x) << it me), art/pics are too small to properly appreciate, a phone isn't comfy to hold for a long time for me, and the app system means you have no control over anything as a user… and that anything there must be Apple Approved, dick-free, blood-free, and tasteless. And I say this as someone who's pretty much uninterested in sex IRL or in my entertainment ;-) I still support and want the tits, the gore, the everything, and as long as I have the tools to curate - oh, wait. Curate things myself? That's not something that's popular these days, is it? It's not going to generate money, if I'm happy ;-)

So… I guess I'll play some more on Neocities, and see if anyone wants to have webrings again? (it would be fun and nostalgic, but not really viable on a large scale; people who haven't known those would just laugh and point and go on the InstaTok of the time).

So here is my little cane-waving rant of the day! I know things evolve and change and that in ten years I'll be rolling my eyes at my moping. It's only that I feel tired of moving from one shitty platform to another, of fearing I won't adapt (or more accurately won't want to adapt given the annoyance/benefit ratio) to whichever new place things will move in a few years. It's saying goodbye to a former home, moving, and hoping you'll make another home elsewhere kind of sniffles today!

We already know the next platform. It has been Discord for a few years now.

If you want the one after Discord, I think you're looking at waiting things out for quite a few years (or until Discord makes a major misstep as a company).

True, real time chat is not for everyone, but small discords with well-chosen channels can operate more asynchronously. Just like a lot of people who hated the look of Tumblr early on eventually capitulated, a lot of chat haters have jumped ship to Discord already.

Realistically, 90% of fandom always goes where the action is, no matter how much they claim the features make that space impossible, and 10% disappears.

We might get the 10% back on the next platform or they might leave fandom for good. There were LJ-haters who resurfaced post LJ era.

But as for where you'll find out where people are... probably AO3 author's notes.

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alexiaugustin · 1 year

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season two of shadow and bone should have shown absolutely every last fucking person that this show is a soulless piece of trash adaptation that doesn’t understand nor gives two fucks about the source material they're allegedly trying to adapt and that the people behind this show were all lying to your faces when they apologized for the things that upset people for 24 hours before season one streamed two years ago, because after all this show still erases the trauma of a woman’s sexual abuse story and they are still sexualizing bisexual people and they are still fucking everything about these characters and their dynamics up.

season one should have upset most people enough to stop stanning this show but during the last two years we have learned that there’s A Lot that the tv industry can do that people won’t care about. an ableist, colorist and fatphobic and age inaccurate casting that hurts people by taking their representation away is something people won’t care about. complex characters being reduced to an inch of what they actually are like so they and their relationship can neatly fit into archetypes, tropes and ao3 tags is something people won’t care about. showrunners getting exposed for having their white stunt doubles do brownface is something people won’t care about. a show having a dumb script that makes everyone on the show look like a fucking loser is something people won’t care about.

and now season two is out and they did everything they already did in season one wrong but it’s somehow still so much worse. after watching season one i felt like the deeply offensive and wrong things about this show were still explainable, season two actually has me at loss for words because of how bad it is. because of how there’s not a single thing they did right about the soc books; not the characters, not their relationships, not their storyline, nor the world they live in. i could give a few examples like the fact that kaz told inej that feeling as if she’s not really free from the menagerie where she was sex trafficked as a child "isn’t her fight anymore, it’s his“ just because pekka rollins owns her now. or the fact that wylan and jesper met via a one night stand and were fucking by episode four even tho they don’t even kiss before the end of ck. or that they turned pekka rollins into a super villain who wants to kill kaz even though the whole point of his role in the books is that he has no idea why kaz has it out for him and he doesn’t care abt these teenagers.

i could explain all these and so many more examples in depth, and still it wouldn’t be enough to capture the the true scope of how bad and truly horrible this show is. and yet. and yet when i log into tumblr dot com or twitter dot com i see gifsets of this show, of the relationships they don’t understand, of the characters they butchered and i'm seeing people rooting for another season of this nonsense. at this point this show feels like a social experiment that’s trying to see how far people will go to defend a deeply offensive and atrociously bad piece of media. and during the last 48 hours i've come to realize that some of y'all will never be able to be pushed too far. some of y’all had their brains rotted away a long time ago when tiktok and ao3 made you believe that media is nothing more than the consumption of aesthetics, tropes and archetypes and that it’s a good thing if these are responsible for the death of art. if you claim to love the book and the show at the same time you are lying to yourself because that is simply impossible. you have, in short, truly lost the fucking plot.

#anti shadow and bone #im going to put this post in all the tags idgaf stupid ppl Pisa me off so bad #shadow and bone #six of crows #wesper #kanej #helnik #kaz Brekker #wylan can eck #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #sab

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chickenstrangers · 4 months

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2023 gifs in review tag game

tagged by @khaotunq (here!) to post my favorite/most popular gifs throughout the year. thank you!!🩵🩵🩵

I only started making gifs partway through this year, so there was a big learning curve and i still think i'm pretty newbie but it has been a lot of fun and it's nice looking back on how much i think i've improved, though i have so much left to learn next year

i am going to ramble too much because this is my post, fair warning, forgive my self indulgence

april

this was the very beginning, back in the photopea days before i tried photoshop (i am still quite fond of photopea, 1. because it is free and 2, for stills i think it's just as good as photoshop, but i could never figure out how to make gifs look good with its dithering system. i have seen some remarkable gifmakers using photopea tho so that's a my limited skill problem, and i'm glad i used it to dip my toes into the process!)

i only posted 1 set for abaab this month which looks not good but is still a very fun scene, but this was not actually the first thing i made (see below).

may

most popular: msp finale, tinn knowing all the words to gun's song <3

favorite: moonlight chicken, my first ever gifset and the reason i got into gifmaking because i wanted to capture the way moonlight chicken visually returned to locations and shots to underline its theme of loneliness being replaced by community, which is the mlc repetitions series

june

most popular & favorite: kiss me again (2018) and the lovely way june say's goodby to his friends (i learned how to add text to gifs for this one, and not only that but timed text! i thought it would get like 5 notes. it's very messy and doesn't look great, but i'm proud that i learned something with it, and i think its very funny and that's all that matters to me)

july

it's photoshop time now!! photoshop beloved you make such beautiful gifs and also you are So Slow and my computer cannot handle you.

most popular: only friends original trailer set

favorite: jimwen looking at each other set (the start of my most belovedest of series, the followup to the first ever meta i wrote)

august

most popular: part 1 of the can't i look at you edits, cool tones edition

favorite: part 2 of the can't i look at you edits, warm toned edition (i love them both but this has two of my all time favorite wen faces)

hey its my profile picture and also i find it very funny that the Os line up with his eyes, and the second gif i love how impossibly happy they look

september

my busiest month in terms of gifs, in large part due to only friends

most popular: topmew and fire

favorite: alanwen poetry edit i spent soooo long learning keyframes for the heartbeat effect and then the ghosting effect was a happy accident thank you person in the background walking past at the right moment

(i also love my charn laws of attraction set because he was a surprise favorite character this year, i loved collecting the quotes for how he speaks of himself)

october

most popular: only friends sandray finale parallel set (it is. very very close to 1k which is. so many).

favorite: he's coming to me edit because it was so fun to make for @dudeyuri

november

most popular: not me sean and black getting along super duper well!

favorite: moonlight chicken haunted house edit, accompanying this meta/creative writing thing. i loved choosing liminal feeling shots for it and i liked how the simple typography turned out

december

most popular: a little jim and wen set i am very fond of

favorite: the moonlight chicken new years set i posted today. i love this little chicken diner

hey look i managed to mention moonlight chicken almost every month (i swear, i watched so many favorite shows this year but i loved making mlc gifs so much)

and that's that! thanks for reading if anyone read til the end.

no pressure tags for some amazingly talented creators who have made some of my favorite sets this year (if you feel like talking about some of your highlights, whether monthly or not, because you all make so much incredible work and i'd love to hear about it) : @hoppipolla @sollucets @icouldhyperfixatehim @celestial-sapphicss @chinzhilla @krystaljungs @moonkhao and anyone who wants to, consider yourself tagged <3

#tag game #bl superlatives 2023 #rambling rambles #*mine #this was a fun retrospective!#thank you to all of the amazing creative people in this community that inspired me and taught me so much

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coldflasher · 9 months

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okay since the montgomery 3000 clip is our snart gifset of the week, i wanna talk about my headcanon that actually the only reason len cracked the system so easily is because he figured out it had some incredibly stupid and exploitable design flaw that rendered all its fancy features absolutely useless. because it’s very common for incredibly clever people to make something really complex and cool but then overlook a very basic detail that kind of fucks the whole thing if you think about it for more than 5 seconds

because like. i love him. he’s very smart. but i do think that they kind of overstated his skillset a little bit in that ep. len’s smart and resourceful and he’s an experienced thief, but a hacker? mmm yeah, im not so sure about that. like if you look at how he pulled off his other heists, he wasn’t really hacking computer systems or whatever, it was more like, disabling basic security alarms, freezing lasers (which is... not... yeah, we’ll ignore that), lots of planning and attention to detail. but pulling off a felicity smoak level hack of an unfamiliar security system in 37 seconds? it was always a little bit silly and convenient, and i’m not mad about it, BUT i do have a better explanation for it than just “he’s such a good thief he can crack ANY security system instantly”.

every time i watch this scene i think about this guy who picks locks on youtube. i wanna say it was thelockpickinglawyer? i can’t remember the exact video, might have been someone else, idk. but anyway, someone had asked him to try and crack open this brand new security lock that was supposed to be super secure. it was meant to be immune to being picked with a traditional lock pick. don’t ask me how, i know almost nothing about lock picking (though i did just get a copy of the CIA lockpicking guide from the international spy museum and i 100% bought it for fanfiction reasons so stay tuned, i will learn!!). but yeah idk, it was something like, the pins resist being lifted individually so you can’t manipulate them the way you usually would with a traditional rake pick, they have this special resistant mechanism, blah blah blah, like i said, i don’t remember the exact details but the point was: you cannot pick this lock. it is unpickable.

so the guy in the video describes all these fancy features that make this lock impossible to pick---and then he examines it for a second, thinks about it and then shoves a metal rod into it really hard and it IMMEDIATELY snaps open because after they’d done all the fancy shit they did to make it unpickable, they totally missed the fact that all you actually needed to do to open it was to essentially like. jab it.

and that is how i think len cracked the montgomery 3000 in infantino street. he’s not actually an expert hacker, he just has common sense.

like cisco is there listing all these features this system has that make it impenetrable: it’s bomb proof, it requires voice authentication, blah blah blah, and while team flash are panicking trying to figure out how to hack into this 10 million dollar impenetrable security system, len thinks about it for a second and then just. takes the batteries out.

#lila looking at all her fellow argus agents and being like.... who the FUCK DESIGNED THIS #new headcanon is that they let barry and len get that far purely so that len would show them all the many issues with their security system #some agent is like uhhhh... detective michaels. should we maybe stop the wanted criminal mastermind breaking into our vault?#and lyla's like no. he already found 16 flaws in our security system and im taking notes #my headcanons

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woozification · 4 months

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i was tagged by both @jeonwon-wonwoo and @irlvernon, tysm maddie & max!! i was hoping someone would tag me this year, i love looking back on things like this <3

rules: link your favorite and/or most popular post from each month this year (totally fine to skip months) and tag some CCs you love!

JANUARY

most popular: lee jihoon, world's cutest loser (2.2k notes) - i loove compilation sets, and this one was so hilarious and fun to make favorites: bss just do it & woozi's habit - i love the colors of my bss set! & i hadn't done much with fun text before, so i enjoyed picking out the font lol. - as for woozi's thumb-biting habit...once i noticed it, i started looking for it everywhere

FEBRUARY

most popular: mafia mingyu (700 notes) - i giffed so much of its2, and cute mafia loser mingyu was impossible to resist favorites: attacca era & post-show arts and crafts - i had a brief affair with attacca as my favorite era...it is impeccable, after all <3 - i noticed woozi making a little fan in the background of an after-show video and thought it was cute

MARCH

most popular: hao & vernon "get your hand off of me" (800 notes) - these two were just too funny dsjfnlsfhj, i had to immortalize them somehow favorite: dk & woozi at caratland 2023 - sweet sweet boys whom i adore with my whole heart...

APRIL

most popular: woozi for rmtcrw (500 notes) - as the caption says, rmtcrw woozi was an absolute gift favorite: super mv outfit details - my dirty little secret is that i didn't care much for super when it first came out, but watching the mv while making this set made me come around

MAY

most popular: woozi wants to be reincarnated as a cat (2.7k) - we stan one (1) catboy in this house. he's so correct actually. favorites: svt's 8th anniversary & woozi fml video behind - i was camping during the 8th anniversary and i literally drove 40 minutes back to my house to post this set...i couldn't let it go to waste. - behind the scenes woozi is so goofy silly, i love his awkward little hiccuppy laugh

JUNE

most popular: jeonghan "what would you do if i became a cockroach?" (1.2k notes) - classic jeonghan behavior necessitating a set... favorite: an ode album covers - my first foray into anything graphics-adjacent! it came out exactly how i planned, and it's my favorite thing i've created thus far

JULY

most popular: snoozi (5.2k notes) - my most popular set of the year! i love how many people enjoyed the pun, and i looooved compiling all the sleepy woozis favorite: it's definitely snoozi, but honorable mentions include strawboory & svt + tv tropes - strawberry boo was already too cute not to gif, and as soon as i had the pun in mind, nothing could've stopped me from using it - svt + tv tropes was so fun! i actually have a few ideas for a part 2, but not enough for a whole set yet.

AUGUST

most popular: "in the market" song (700 notes) - i was flabbergasted by this, woozi's memory terrifies me. instant gifset. favorite: a rainbow of wz hair colors - i loved coloring this set, for obvious reasons. vibrant gifs my beloved.

SEPTEMBER

most popular: follow tour vcr (500 notes) - the moment i saw this, i loved it. i'm not exactly sure what the plot was, so i had my own interpretation ofc. favorite: svt mvs + pink & blue - i was on a mission for rq&s, but i ended up going a little broader instead. i had fun making the templates!

OCTOBER

most popular: pd woo (700 notes) - it's just a single large gif, but man is it a cute face. the 700 notes are me reblogging it 700 times in another life. favorite: first love & letter album covers - wahhh these were so fun to make! the "love" one is my favorite, they're such good boys honestly.

NOVEMBER

most popular: woozi's birthday (400 notes) - i really enjoyed creating the layout for this and adding all the cute bits and pieces. it's one of my favorites from this year :) favorite: it's definitely the birthday set, but honorable mention for the birthday box photoshoot - pink sweater...

DECEMBER

most popular/favorite: 2024 sg spot (180 notes) - life got difficult in december, so this is my only set. behold!

this was fun! here's to more giffable content in 2024! ^^

a lot of my favs have already been tagged so apologies for any double tags, but (if you're so inclined) i'll tag @jeongtokkie @sevencoloredstar @woozis @goblinvern @wnjunhui @junranghae @dinoboos @junmail @hoshingi and @kiimtaehyung <3

#tag game #i love these kinds of things ty again maddie & max <3

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rexxdjarin · 7 months

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okay wait i also have gregor thots because of that damned gifset of him without his poldron

look we all know clones are so so pretty and fuck if they don’t look good above you, but gregor got lucky, his shoulders somehow brocarder than others. it’s more for you to take your nails across and bite into as he rolls his hips into you, more space for your leg to rest on as he throws it over his shoulder so his cock can get what feels impossibly deep inside you.

even when his eyes are hooded and his breaths are pants and moans, there is that mischief in his eyes.

when your legs around around his waist and his face his pressed into your neck, leaving kisses and makes everywhere he can reach, you can help but bite his shoulder with a sob as he hits that spot inside of you that makes your eyes roll back and you clench around him.

oh and the way that his shoulders and back flex and move when hes wandering around your house wearing grey sweats low on his waist.

Send me asks and thots!

I AM SWEATING

you know Gregor loves what he looks like. hes not cocky. hes not a jerk about it. hes just hot and fucking proud of it. he loves how you mark up his shoulders, how you can rest your legs on his shoulders and he can totally hold you up with ease while he eats you out like crazy. he flexes and shows off while he fucks into you, he plays around so often just to make you insane over how fucking HOT your boyfriend is and yet hes still a big lovable kind heroic man and it only makes you that much more attracted to him.

also I am sobbing over this I WANT him. his slicked back hair I wanna fucking pull on it too😩

#clone commando gregor thots #clone commando gregor #captain gregor thots #captain gregor #asks and thots #send me asks #ask box #asks open

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hotvintagepoll · 1 month

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Propaganda

Luise Rainer (Big City; The Emperor's Candlesticks; The Toy Wife)—i mean. look at her.

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Miriam Hopkins:

youtube

In Trouble in Paradise she plays a pickpocket who flirts by stealing from her criminal boyfriend and I fell in love

queen of the pre-code era. often her roles were of carefree, flirty and lighthearted but intelligent women. famously in the movie where she was part of a fredrich march/gary cooper throuple.

youtube

Linked gifset

She's got this sly slouchy confidence that just draws you in. Almost no one wore 30s fashion as well as her

We all know that Design for Living is THE pre-code movie and she is so iconic in it. Her eyes are everythingggg. Also everyone look at her in a suit in She Loves Me Not please

#miriam hopkins #luise rainer #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 1 #Youtube

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pharawee · 1 year

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Okay so after 4 gifsets it’s time for my review of Big Dragon ep 4. Just for me. As a treat.

And we’re already halfway through this series. How did this happen? I feel like I spent the whole year just waiting and now it’s all going by so fast. I’m lowkey hoping for StarHunter to continue promoting MosBank together, if only so they’ll do more travel vlogs.

Also, if possible (yep, still biased) this show has become even better. I’m mostly just someone who gets pulled in by the mood of a show, but this time I really tried paying attention to the motifs the director and actors have mentioned before - like the colour coding, cinematography and Mangkorn’s and (especially) Yai’s comfort levels.

And it’s really paying off:

Look how subdued Mangkorn’s signature colour is here. He’s literally fading into the background, with his and Hong’s father taking control over his (and Hong’s) life. I’m glad that it’s immediately established that both mum’s are super uncomfortable with this whole situation. They’re not even indulging their husbands. Mangkorn’s mum even makes it clear later that arranged marriages are a thing of the past (and I’m super glad they put that in) and that if Mangkorn were to speak to his dad he’d back off.

But more on that later.

I’ve read the novel but still, I’m glad Mangkorn and Hong get along so well. I mean, they’re essentially in the same boat (negl their dads get along so well, they should just marry each other ugh). Plus, I’m super tired of the “female rival” trope in BL. It’s distracting and unfair to everyone involved.

And, yeah, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but Mangkorn’s colour makes a bit of a return in this scene - even though he’s wearing the same shirt.

Yai’s family crisis, meanwhile, lies in the past and I’m really glad his sister tells him so outright. I mean, it’s immediately clear that the death of his mother is something that’s deeply troubling to Yai and has shaped him as a person - to the point were he refuses to move on. To him the house is empty and I totally get why he doesn’t want to stay for long. His sister, in contrast, finds it peaceful and relaxing out in the garden, even at night (and with about 300 mosquitos around 🥴).

Only then, of course, Yai makes the “female rival” a thing. You do it to yourself, Yai (I mean, with good reason - seeing as they’re both known womanizers). I’m glad that the show subverts this whole trope early on and makes it all about Yai’s insecurities. There’s only 8 episodes, nobody’s got time for that. In the novel it wasn’t as clear because Hong turned up much later when Mangkorn had already explained the whole thing. Yai only had breadcrumbs and suspicions to go on and of course he drew the wrong conclusions.

And because Mangkorn has lost access to his LINE ID (possibly because *someone* decided to destroy his phone) he decides to wait for Yai in front of his faculty building. For hours. That’s some dedication.

And, honestly, pouting back at someone who’s pouting might be the most valid strategy I’ve ever seen. Put that UNO reverse card away or so help me!! 😤

I really, really love Mangkorn’s shirt. And I love how their individual colours get more similar when they’re not fighting/testing their boundaries and just being themselves. It’s like they’re on neutral ground here.

And, holy shit, every second of that scene was so adorable, from their playful banter to their not-so hidden smiles.

Oh, how the turntables. This time it’s Mangkorn’s turn to ask if Yai has been to supervise the pub’s renovations today (he hasn’t because it’s boring without Mangkorn).

Which brings us to my favourite scene of this week.

Just look how soft these two are 🥺

And they’re in neutral colours again, on neutral territory, with Mangkorn dispensing a piece of wisdom that rings rather hollow considering that this “sacrifice” he mentions is impossible to achieve in his own case (unless at this point in the story he actually considers marrying Hong out of filial piety).

We also catch a glimpse of Yai’s family ring. Surprise - there’s a tiger on it.

Kissing Yai (and it was such a sweet kiss - I just wish it hadn’t been in slow motion) doesn’t really bring the closure Mangkorn probably hoped for - if he planned for any of this at all. Because as dominant (with a small d - I’m talking personality traits because I’ve no idea about any of the rest) as he might seem, I feel like he’s just as much out of his depth as Yai is. He’s just much better at keeping his cool (and the upper hand).

This is one of the pics Yai stares at as he masturbates and negl, that’s kind of touching (full pun intended 🤡)

But apart from the fact that he’s still wearing his ring while he goes to town (ouch??) it struck me how lonely and unsatisfying this whole scene felt. He’s in this big bed and occupying only one side of it. It just feels like something’s missing.

Oh ffs, show 😂

Anyway.

Finally. 🫠

No but seriously if at any point in the future you don’t find me stanning Big Thanakorn then please assume I’ve been replaced by an impostor and call the police.

I’m totally with Yai on this one.

Bank has said that when Yai is with Nine he’s in his comfort zone and it really shows. I don’t think Nine is any serious competition, though, even if Mangkorn weren’t in the picture. It’s like Yai is on this fixed trajectory now and that has everything to do with Mangkorn.

Oh well, looks like Big’s character will end up alone again. Why must you hurt me so, StarHunter? 🥲

Aand we’re back to Mangkorn wearing a red shirt (with red back-lighting uh-oh) and... how do you even explain this, Mangkorn? The girl slipped? She wanted to see your tattoo up close? You actually caught a glimpse of Yai talking to Nine and this is your revenge?

“How could you do that?”, indeed.

Feels like they’re both blaming and deflecting here (ah, yes, how could you do this to poor Hong??) and I’m pretty sure we’ll see Mangkorn’s side of the story next week because they wouldn’t just leave it like that...

But Mangkorn’s “Are you mad because you like me?” really felt like a gamechanger because it seems like up until this point Yai didn’t even realise. He doesn’t even look defensive or angry, he’s just shocked and hurt (with a side of confusion).

Also, I love how Yai’s background is all cold blues, and Mangkorn’s side is earthy browns/reds. Something’s about to go down next week ( and it’s exactly what it sounds like 🤡)

Meanwhile, the bodyguards have monkey-pawed their relationship into existence and now I want some Tao Kae Noi 😭

#big dragon #big dragon the series #jane watches stuff #ok so this got really long #but it's ok it's daylight saving time tonight #and i have an extra hour to waste #also was it just me or was there some choppy editing this week?#bd meta

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thebonerpit · 3 months

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Idk if anyone follows my posts enough to even notice this but you may have seen me talking about a lot of new things I've watched so far this year, both tv and film. I kind of made a mini resolution to do this because I found, especially at the end of 2023, that I was stuck in a rut of either rewatching old things or mindlessly flipping through YouTube videos I had little to no interest in. There's so much media out there I'm interested in and now I feel almost reinvigorated to go through it and I've been having a blast.

Most of the time I'll probably just reblog a gifset or two with thoughts in the tags but I finally watched the Interview with the Vampire tv show and I have FEELINGS (mostly good)! Spoilers for season one and I do talk about book things that eventually happen so beware in case you don't know and want to continue the show completely blind...

So I kinda put off watching this at first because the Vampire Chronicles books are some of my favourites, and while it did have its own issues, the 1994 film holds a special place in my heart. I was like... do we really need anything else? But I'm glad I gave it a chance because the show was able to go so much further in so many aspects and also now we have a chance to actually see even more of the book events take place!

I'm gonna say up front that almost every character felt very different from how they are in the book except for Lestat. Lestat was actual perfection and I cannot BELIEVE someone did a (dare I say) even better job than Tom Cruise who gave the performance of his life in the film. Sam Reid's Lestat is unhinged and dramatic and terrifying and sad and cringe and yet also loveable and it was a masterpiece of acting. For the majority of the other characters I really didn't mind the differences and in some instances I thought they were actually improved. Daniel Molloy, for example, who is basically Anthony Bourdain? Perfection. Louis who is yes kind of pathetic and dramatic like the book, but also is volatile and complicated which Lestat is drawn to right from the beginning instead of only after having his little breakdown caused by his brother's death? Excellent. Armand who is older and looks nothing like the Armand described in the books but I can see without any problem how Marius fell madly deeply insanely in love with him because he's GORGEOUS and has this unsettling serenity about him? Give. Me. MORE.

The only issue I really had was with Claudia. I see people praising her all over the place so I'm sure this is an unpopular opinion but I hated that they aged her up so much. The most compelling thing about Claudia as a character is that she is an adult woman trapped in the body of a literal CHILD. A pre-pubescent child. Not a teenager. It's absolutely horrifying and it should be horrifying. Now, I will say, I saw an article where they talked about part of the reason behind this choice being that they needed the actor to work longer hours and it was impossible for a kid to do that, plus the very intense material, and I fully FULLY support any protections for child actors because the industry is insane. But it does make me sad and I wish there was some way they could have worked around it. I get what they tried to do with teenage Claudia but it just fell flat for me. And also the actress really looks her age (I think she's 20?) so like the few times where people were making fun of her for "playing dress up" or whatever I'm like... she fully looks like an older teen at LEAST what are you talking about lol. Also I thought her accent was kind of bad.

But honestly, that was really the only problem I had with the whole series. I absolutely loved how they went full-on explicit with the Lestat/Louis romance and the chemistry between the two of them was... WOOF. I was actually really interested in the modern portions too, mostly because Anthony Bour-- I mean Daniel Molloy was so entertaining lol. I loved how he pushed and pushed at Louis and their whole back and forth was brilliant. Although putting on my archivist's hat for a second to be outraged at Daniel consenting to wearing the cotton gloves to handle the diaries but then eating a fucking sandwich right beside the book???? Absolutely not lol. It was so much fun to see the Armand reveal (which I was spoiled for somehow but that's ok) especially knowing that Armand eventually turns Daniel and boy oh boy I hope they go long enough to get to that. I loved the continued references to Lestat's love of music which makes me hope they're planting seeds to make rock star Lestat a little more believable lol (god can you even imagine?? And we don't talk about the Queen of the Damned movie ok).

As for S2, I'm so excited for Paris and the Théâtre des Vampires and HELLO Ben Daniels as Santiago!!! Omg so hype for that. And it's going to be so interesting to see the Armand/Louis relationship as well because I mean it's always going to be Lestat/Louis and Armand/Marius for me so Louis being like "he's the love of my life"... girl. (And speaking of Armand/Marius please GOD give us some flashbacks because they are my Vampire Chronicles OTP and I need to see that whole story including my girl Bianca thank youuuuu).

Yeah so overall I'm quite positive about the whole thing and sincerely hope that they get many more seasons because there's so many interesting stories in those books and we've only ever gotten a TINY portion on screen.

#tbptalks #interview with the vampire #in addition to watching new things i'm apparently also reverting to my livejournal days and writing long rambly posts about media lol #i like throwing my opinions into the void ok sometimes i just need to get them out there #and when i have a lot to say i don't like using the tags on someone else's post

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zimshan · 8 months

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august braindump: on the state of tv and heartstopper

the last year has been such a strange time for me and tv. i honestly cannot remember a time i watched less new tv shows. it’s not for lack of trying but every show/season i started, i was just dragging my heels to finish. some of that is because they’re older shows that aren’t as good as their earlier seasons. stranger things s4 took me an entire year to finish. the pacing was just wildly off to me, and that’s disappointing after the incredible structure of s1. some of that is because of subject matter. i haven’t been able to work myself up to watch outlander after the s5 finale because i just don’t have the mental bandwidth for a sexual trauma storyline. babylon berlin i stopped watching because they were threatening to kill another kid. i’ve noped out of so many shows because of the ratcheting stakes, something that i'm so so tired of seeing done just for the hell of it.

of all the shows, i probably watched the great s2 quickest because it was just so off the wall and the tone of s1 still fascinates me. but even that dragged and was partly guilt tripping to justify my hulu subscription, and i could never let my guard down because it was always going for the most outrageous grotesque thing. i’m stalled on s3 now that they’re killing off characters left and right.

i watched shadow and bone s2 like 15-20 minutes at a time in july because i just found it a snoozefest compared to s1. i legit just wanted to finish it to cross it off my list. how terrible is that? the moment i finished, i started the fame game, a bollywood show, literally because of one gifset on my dash. and watched that 4x faster than anything else i’ve seen all year. cementing my idea that the best of netflix is their international shows. but that shit was pretty dark too.

so beginning of august, i opened up netflix sleep deprived and looking for something to get my mind off my impossible deadline and fuel some writing inspiration. someone on my dash was recently talking about Heartstopper, and it reminded me i missed watching it last year when everyone was talking about it. so seeing it pop up on my netflix screen, i absentmindedly thought, "what the hell let’s see what the fuss is about" and started the first episode. and you know it did the impossible. it grabbed me from the first few frames, and i looked up 2 hours later like oh right sleep. and now i just want to analyze it like a bug. what the hell makes it work where others have failed?

the binging culture inherent to streaming tv is fascinating to me because i almost never do it. if there is one anti-binger out there, she is me. i miss the era of one episode a week on a certain night every day for years. my patience maxes out at 45 minutes every time. i think it’s terrible that shows need to be so bingeable millions of people have to watch an entire season in a weekend to get renewed. because even the best shows i can't commit to doing that for. where does anyone find the time or brainspace, idek.

i know most of the coverage and reaction to the show seem to be about representation and i agree. but there’s something about the elements of Heartstopper that just work where other tv shows lately have faltered and i want to break it down for parts. because on paper it does seem so simple. some of it really is just basic storytelling in tv. those first three episodes are key and the pacing is excellent, every second counts and the acting, editing, and music really drive the show and keep it compelling. on rewatch, i can see how the addictive quality is very much in the editing, in the music, to keep it punchy so that you never think to stop watching. but it’s also in the white space, the moments they give to the lead actors to let a moment breathe. i've been beating this drum for decades now but this show gave so many good examples of it.

several 5-minute sequences caught me thinking god that so compelling why how. the one that stood out on rewatch is the texting sequence in 102 after nick’s interception of the assault scene. there’s zero dialogue but the editing, acting, and music work together to feel the weight of the moment and then lift up from there.

all these essentials combine with something unique like the animations as visual representations of emotions and attraction and create some kind of magical alchemy. it’s been a long time since i’ve thought about it but “lightning in a bottle” describes the best seasons of tv i’ve seen: where it feels like everyone on set, all the actors, every one of the crew, writers, directors, care about the story and are working on all cylinders to do their best job. in the age of streaming, this seems to be more rare than ever and learning about mini writing rooms during the WGA strike has helped to understand why. so has seeing those checks to send home the overall state of residuals in the streaming era. to do the best job people need to be paid fairly. full stop.

so i started Heartstopper and watched 4 episodes in the blink of an eye. the next day, 6; the last day 4. then i did a thing i almost never do anymore: i looked up the soundtrack. music has always been a driver for me, a tv show that nails a score or soundtrack is always gonna get under my skin more than one that doesn’t. it’s part of the necessary ingredients for a good show for me. all my forever tv loves, music plays a central role, music that defines and sets the tone for the show and then becomes forever married to it. you can create a list of the songs and play it back and see the show unfurl again in your mind. its my favorite way of revisiting a show without actually watching it, after a good vid that is. but it works best when the music is a dead lock for the scene or character and typically this is sound driven more than lyrically driven. this show uses a 2012 era style sound i already have a strong affinity for, i have multiple work playlists from the last decade to drive me through a deadline with Foster The People, Fitz and the Tantrums, et al.

but it also did a thing i haven't seen in a long while: the lyrics were used as an extension of the script for internal character POV. in the first episode alone you have the following lyrical-visual pairs: -i'll go anywhere you want to go on charlie getting ben's text to meet -i wanna get lovesick with you on nick watching charlie run and asking him to join the team -right before i'm swallowed by my mind and cursing at the sky on charlie out of place on the rugby field before nick pulls him in to the group -what's the point of looking at the view? cause every time i do i just see you on elle and tao missing each other -the world ends it's you and me/in my head if we can be together/maybe we'll live forever on nick tackling charlie and the leaves animations around them -i see the signs of a lifetime on nick getting charlie's thank you x text paired with the flowing bird animations roll to the credits

this is vidding happening here.

so i spent a good two days listening to the soundtrack and related albums as i got through my deadline. and then i started getting some more questions about the timeline on the story (the soundtrack is of a style popular circa 2012 that i associate with 8tracks playlists even though the actual songs are a bit later, 2015 onwards) and looked up the books the show was based on. i started Solitaire after seeing it was the author’s first book and wanting to read tori’s POV after the glimpses in the show got me thinking about her elder daughter role.

then i looked up the comics when i realized the timeline of Solitaire was a year later and wanted to fill in the gaps. and wow, i’m in awe of how much of the show was already here, how much detail went into the show to match certain frames. the comics are basically acting as storyboards for the show. i used to do the most basic storyboarding for vidding a lifetime ago. i’ve recently gotten the storyboarding itch again the last few months after watching some BTS docs on TCM about storyboard artists and remembering how fascinating and underappreciated the skill actually is. there's some beautiful storyboarding out there, but it doesn't have to be beautiful, it's just got to be functional. at its heart, it's about the frame, the shot, the visual that tells the story. and a lot of that is already done in the comics and translated straight to screen.

i’m inspired learning about alice oseman’s story as a young author, how she started and finished Solitaire before graduating high school, writing the story she wished she saw on the shelves. then how she was taken with her two secondary characters and started teaching herself how to draw to visualize and bring to life their own journeys. it’s such a great example of how storytelling takes on a life of its own and how you are not defined by only your current skillset. there are no boundaries on creativity and curiosity but the ones we self-impose on ourselves.

the last few years, i’ve been thinking a lot about why some works fail to resonate while others succeed, especially in regard to book to screen adaptation. it probably started with the absolute fail that was GOT S8 and rereading THG next to the films and grown from there with my TCM pandemic focus. obviously it’s a gamechanger when the author is the showrunner and that alone is rare. the whole nature of Heartstopper as a webcomic first and driven by subscribers and kickstarter donations is unique as well. alice has built up a passionate audience to create for that helped promote the show and that makes a lot of difference.

but the streaming element is an added issue. by the time i finished season 2, my one overriding thought was wow, imagine society if this had aired 20 years ago. i couldn't help but think of the kids this show could have helped, seeing such an sincere example of queer community on screen. but interrogating that further, i know it’s a silly thought. it wouldn’t have gotten made at all. in 2000, dawson's creek kicked up hate over one gay kiss that amounted to almost nothing. my best friend at 15 came out as gay and felt like he had to pirate QaF asap as the only piece of queer rep around but something far outside of our age group. this story is age appropriate for the age that needs it. in 2023, homophobic parents are waging wars on the school board and libraries in our area for carrying books with queer representation including those of oseman's. no network would greenlight 22 episodes of a queer tumblr webcomic. netflix gave the show 4 hours for its first season in the middle of the pandemic. it only gets made in the streaming era. it is a product of the times, even if the story originates 10 years earlier.

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the picture of queer community and lifting up and supporting others is essential for the age this is targeting. i know i'm 20 years older than that target and am mindful of that. this show is not for me. but it's been a while since i've watched a teen series, probably skam, which is a big outliner in teen shows. i think from my dash i assumed the show was going to be pure teen fluff but instead was surprised how much texture it has. the love story is the focus of the gifsets, but it does sell the show short imo. the world doesn’t ignore the dark parts---homophobic bullies, abusive partners and clueless parents, trauma and its long tail, anxiety and eating disorders, the ways love and community can uplift and support but not cure. reading Solitaire i can see where it’s coming from, a dark story that starts the verse. the darkness is there not ignored but part of the journey. its presence makes the light more powerful. but its best virtue is that despite its dark parts, it’s at heart a comforting story. and i think this is an overarching reason why it succeeds as a show. the comic does right by each character and in turn cares for the reader. so everyone working on it saw the story as a comfort themselves and did right by the story. that care shows on screen.

the way Solitaire ends is a thesis statement of sorts for the osemanverse: support and lift each other up, you’re not alone and stronger as a community. it matches skam's thesis, and heartstopper continues it. that reminder is a balm to these times. it's the ethos of organizing but it got lost in isolation of the last few years. its simplicity is part of its power. part of lightning in a bottle is timing. i know some people have lived with this story for years, but after 4 long plague years, its sincerity speaks to me. i can’t think of a reminder i needed more than this story at this time. sometimes you really do stumble on the right story right when you need it.

anyway, this verse has gotten in my brain now so fair warning. heartstopper/osemanverse posting ahead.

#heartstopper #ive been stuck in bugs grief narrative for too long #this is a balm to my soul #i love it but im also breaking it down for parts #my txt #RB off #2023 #sometimes youre just running on empty and dont even realize it til a fandom blindsides you #havent done a tv braindump in ages #this is why #long post #pulling together all of my tag thoughts into one post

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